Malerkotla gurdwara fire accidental, granthi cooked up sacrilege story, say police

Police said the fire broke out accidentally due to overheating of a wall fan inside the sanctum sanctorum of the gurdwara in Hathoa village of Malerkotla.

A day after the ‘bir’ (copy) of Guru Granth Sahib was found burnt in a gurdwara at Hathoa village of Malerkotla, the police, on Monday have claimed to have cracked the ‘sacrilege case’. Police say the fire was an accidental, but the granthi, for fear of being blamed for negligence and losing his job, reportedly tried to cover up with a concocted story of a break-in.

Police say the case was solved by the fire forensic experts from Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Sangrur, and the findings were corroborated by an expert team from Mumbai. (HT Photo)

Police said the case was solved by the concerted efforts of fire forensic experts from Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Sangrur, and the findings were corroborated by an expert team from Mumbai led by Gopal Relkar, which was flown in on Monday by the Punjab Police.

In a statement, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, lauded the collaborative efforts of these teams, under the guidance of SSP Sangrur, Sandeep Garg and IG Patiala–AS Rai, with DGP Dinkar Gupta monitoring investigations and assessing the situation at the spot.

Captain Amarinder commended the police for unraveling the case, which could have sparked off communal tensions in the state, in record time, unlike the regime of the Akalis, who had failed to crack any sacrilege case which had rocked their government, especially in 2015.

The police said the granthi, Joga Singh, confessed to having cooked up the Darbar Hall break-in story when confronted with the forensic and circumstantial evidence.

“He was afraid of being blamed of negligence by villagers and of being discharged from service. However, now the police will act against Joga Singh as per law,” said SSP Garg.